


Tapestry

by DifferenceEngineGirl



Series: My Skin is a Tapestry of Other People's Desires [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Lucifer's Vacations, Post-Season/Series 04, Pre-Canon, Tattooed Lucifer Morningstar, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24844420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DifferenceEngineGirl/pseuds/DifferenceEngineGirl
Summary: My body was blank, and my story was writ upon it.
Relationships: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar
Series: My Skin is a Tapestry of Other People's Desires [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797211
Comments: 17
Kudos: 59
Collections: Filii Hircus: WIP It Good





	1. History

**Author's Note:**

  * For [violent_ends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/violent_ends/gifts), [thepoisonofgod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepoisonofgod/gifts).



> For violent_ends and thepoisonofgod, and all the Tattoocifer loving people in FH.
> 
> Thanks to Miah_Arthur and wollfgang for beta-ing!

Lucifer first believed the markings he saw on some humans' skin were natural, akin to the stripes on a tiger, until he came across one tapping blue into another's shin with a bundle of rough-carved needles. He watched, fascinated, as lines and dots appeared as the needles were drawn across skin, building up to form a fish stretching up the man's shin. When the artist had finished, he beckoned him over and offered to tap a similar design into his own skin. He eagerly agreed and settled before him, intrigued to see the process close up. As the artist attempted to tap the first mark into his skin, the needles snapped. Lucifer realised these tools would never be able to mark his skin. He apologised to the artist, and sought out two new sets of needles - one to replace those he broke and another for himself.

After he returned the new set to the artist, Lucifer took his set back to Hell and demanded the demons who worked the forge replicate it in demon steel. The next time he ventured to the Earth, he sought out another artist and gave them the rough-forged points before he asked them to mark the glyph he claimed for his own into the skin on his chest. As the artist began, Lucifer felt the sharp pain of the needles puncturing his flesh and grinned at his success. He lay there for hours as the artist tapped the design in, the pain new and exciting, and nothing compared to that of Falling. When it was finished, he retrieved the needles and paid the artist handsomely for their work.

He was delighted to see the ink remain when he returned to Hell, standing out dark and crisp against his pale skin, and he vowed to add to the fledgling tapestry of his skin whenever he returned to Earth.

\---

Mostly he let the artists he found have free rein on the canvas of his skin, letting them design and tattoo what they most desired to contribute to his art, with his approval before the work began. A few times though, he sought out an artist with an idea firmly in his mind.

When humanity began to call him Dragon, he got the beast inscribed on his skin, the seven heads ringing the top of his left forearm and the body winding around his arm with the end of the tail just brushing his hand.

On his next visit, they had started to call him Serpent. The one who tempted Eve in the garden and bade her eat of the Forbidden Fruit. So a serpent mirrored the dragon, thousands of pinpricks etching the creature into his skin, with its jaws stretched around a pomegranate at the top of his forearm.

Over the centuries, many of the myriad names humanity called him were inscribed along the lithe bodies of the serpent and dragon, in whichever language he first heard them, strings of scripts and languages forming around the creatures. He only claimed those names with some truth, letting the characters be pressed into his skin as he adopted them into himself.

On one trip, after Amenadiel had finally taken the hint and stopped trying to use his old name, he got it tattooed in Enochian along the bottom of the right side of his ribs, with "vryheid" tattooed in Lilim along the left, a memorial to who he was and a reminder of who he became.

\---

The first time he got a full-colour tattoo, he was in Japan and spent four days lying in the artist's studio as an intricate dragon was painstakingly tapped into his left thigh. He had spent half a day locating the most talented artist he could, and when they voiced their desire to tattoo a full-colour traditional style dragon into the untouched skin of his thigh, he agreed. Three days in, Amenadiel interrupted the session, fury written across his face as he once again arrived to return Lucifer to Hell. Their fight was ferocious, Lucifer more determined than ever before to be allowed to remain until the tattoo was finished. Eventually, they fought to a standstill, and came to an agreement that Lucifer would not leave the studio while he was permitted to remain, and he would leave for Hell as soon as the artist was finished. 

\---

After the marathon sessions of the full-colour dragon, Lucifer returned to his previous pattern of only getting small, black linework tattoos, animals and plants and abstract shapes and patterns that the artists he met desired to add to his tapestry.

\---

Only once did he attempt to get a tattoo in Hell, before he vowed only to have living human artists tattoo him. Between the Japanese dragon visit and the next, Bael challenged him to a duel for greater control of Hell, and once his victory was assured, Lucifer wanted to commemorate his victory. He scoured the cells for the most talented tattoo artist whose soul was under his domain, and interrupted their loop, bending the cell to his will. 

Hell soon put paid to his plan, sending every other strike skittering away from its line, until the design of Bael's seal subdued by his own was naught but random lines and curves, a displeasing mess of ink marring his right calf. Frustrated, he left the artist to their loop and sought out Maze to get her recommendation of Lilim who could be trusted to attempt to salvage the mess. The chosen Lilim did their best to turn the mess into something befitting their Lord’s body, and managed to turn it into a crude black hole above a rough throne. The end result was not as refined as every other piece on Lucifer’s body, but he left it as it was as a reminder of both the duel and the tattoo attempt that followed.

\---

Over the centuries, he collected tattoos from almost every country and culture in the world. From a collection of Polynesian tattoos around his right shoulder–bold, black, and crisp lines and blocks, mirroring the style but not the meanings, as he is an outsider–to the Sumerian glyph on his chest, and the Japanese dragon around his thigh. Most of his tattoos were intricate patterns and simple images adorning his ribs, stomach, arms, and legs, styles that were found in many places throughout time immemorial.

Once he had made the decision to retire, every new tattoo he chose held meaning to him, no longer just commemorating each trip he took to the mortal world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback always welcome!


	2. LA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During his time in LA, Lucifer added many meaningful tattoos to his tapestry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to RheaoftheDeadSea for beta-ing!

The one area of his body that remained free of ink - bar his genitals, the adornment of which bore little appeal to him, and his face and hands, as he still wanted to be able to walk freely amongst humanity no matter their opinions on tattoos - was his upper and mid back, as he feared that a needle strike in the wrong place would force his wings from his back and a revelation or serious injury on the poor artist working on him.

After he made his home in LA, and had Maze remove them, he no longer had to worry about that.

When the wounds from his wings healed, leaving crescent-shaped scars in their wake, Lucifer found the most skilled stick and poke tattoo artist he could, and got the stars that watched his second rebellion etched across his shoulders. The sky behind them is a deep, whirling mass of purple-blue-pink, and there are more stars embedded in the swirls than could be seen on that night, but every one is in its proper place and Lucifer feels  _ whole _ , despite the loss of his limbs, with his creations with him in his skin.

Some would have thought the ugliness of the twisted scars would disgust him, sat amongst the beauty of his ink, but in his eyes they were as beautiful as any of his artwork, yet another mark he chose to press upon his skin to reclaim his form from the one who made it.

* * *

After his friend -- his first friend in millennia and he was a  _ priest _ , now isn't that ironic? -- After his friend breathed his last in his arms, after the sharp grief faded from his blood, leaving an ache in his bones unlike any he'd felt before, he fetched his needles and found his way back to the studio and the artist who gave him his stars. The artist did as he asked, tapping piano keys and a clerical collar into the skin below the name he rejected millennia ago. Father Frank knew who he was, who he truly was, and still he sat beside him and played, and laughed, and Lucifer didn't know if he'd ever have that again.

* * *

After his self-inflicted death and trip to Hell for the antidote, Lucifer sat by the Detective's bedside, chest aching from more than the electricity that coursed through him a few hours prior. The spawn sat beside him anxiously fidgeting as she waited for her father to return, or her mother to awake. After a few minutes of this, Lucifer got fed up with her wriggling, and suggested she colour while she waited. When she told him she had no paper left, he found her backpack and coloured felt-tips before stripping off his jacket and shirt, letting her see the numerous black linework tattoos on his upper arms and torso. She leapt at his suggestion that she colour those instead of on paper, and for a while they sat in silence, Lucifer continuing to watch Chloe as the pens tickled over his skin. When Dan came for Trixie, he put his shirt and jacket back on, and didn't look at what she had done until he was far away, alone in a Vegas hotel room.

When he looked over his familiar tattoos and their new, eccentric colouring, he found a small, childish drawing of a devilish figure in a convertible nestled amongst them, sat above the Lilim below his ribs and signed 'Trixie' with hearts above the 'i's, and his  heart ached. Before he had a chance to second guess himself, he retrieved the needles he'd packed on a whim and set out in search of an artist.

* * *

After he gave Mum her own universe, and once he had recovered from his devil-napping and the unexpected return of his wings, he returned to his artist and got a flaming sword etched along the back of his left arm, one of the few in colour adorning his skin. Its positioning meant he couldn't see it, but he knew it was there, like the continued existence of his Mother in her brand new universe. Out of sight, but not far from his thoughts.

As he sat on his throne, high above the twisting labyrinth of Hell, Lucifer pressed the needles into his own skin for the first time. Carefully, slowly, he poked ink made from blood and ash into the inside of his left wrist, fighting against the nature of Hell and its ruin to form three small letters, rough and jagged next to the smooth lines of the Dragon. Three letters to remind him of what he left behind on Earth.

_ CJD _

Time passed, and he planned more tattoos, not wanting to risk them being corrupted by Hell by attempting to get them done, but he held their design in his mind as he worked to leave once more.

* * *

Not long after his return to her side, the pair of them were sat in her living room when she spoke up.

"I have something to show you, Lucifer."

"Oh?"

She stood first, took his hand and led him upstairs to her bedroom, and lightly pushed him to sit on her bed before she stepped back and began to lift her top over her head.

"Ooh, Detective! I didn't take you for one to put on a show" he smirked. Chloe shot him a glare before she finished pulling off her top. She took a moment before she turned around, and pulled her hair over her shoulder as she did.

For a moment, Lucifer was struck speechless, staring at the carefully shaded lines now adorning the top of the Detective's back, either side of her spine.

"Detective…"

"After- After you left, I wasn't sure if you'd ever be coming back, and I was inspired by your artwork to get a tattoo to keep you with me."

"Chloe, I- I don't know what to say… Can I-?"

"Of course you can touch, Lucifer."

With her permission, he stood and gently traced the outlines of the small wings on her back, the right feathered and angelic and the left bat-like and devilish.

"I got one for both sides of your wings, because I wanted to keep  _ all _ of you with me, not just the devil or the angel."

"No-one's cared enough about me to do anything like this before, Chloe. I-I-"

"It's ok, Lucifer. You don't have to say anything."

* * *

Later, when he was once again solidly settled on Earth, confident Hell was at least temporarily pacified, he returned to his artist and got a pair of glasses and small wings surrounded by a larger set mantled around them tattooed on his right pec, an atom and the words " _ rur be'nI'wI' _ " (Klingon for "like a sister") under his left collarbone, and a pudding cup and Azrael's dagger next to a haloed scales of justice below his right. He saved the still-blank spot above his heart for the Detective, for something more than the three letters already etched into his wrist. After some consideration, he decided she should decide the content of that tattoo, and they would go together for him to get it done with a human machine.

She took his request with the utmost seriousness, and took her time to make her decision.

* * *

"I’ve thought about your request, and here’s what I’ve decided." The Detective said as she sat next to him at his piano, and passed a piece of paper over to him. On it was a printout of a delicately curled music stave, and underneath was a handwritten set of three bars.

"I think I got the notes right, I looked it up to try and be sure."

Smiling, Lucifer put the paper down on the top of the piano and settled his fingers over the keys.

"Like this?" he asked, before beginning to play the notes of their first duet, Heart and Soul floating out into the penthouse once again.

"Yeah, exactly like that." she smiled at him, and he returned it, so soft and full of love she wondered how she could have ever thought ill of him.

"Care to join me?"

Chloe smiled at him before sliding over his lap to his other side, in order to take her place at the higher end of the keyboard. His eyes darkened as she slid over him, and she grinned as she settled beside him, pressing a kiss to his stubbled cheek before she placed her fingers onto the keys. Before he could drag her attention away to more carnal matters, she began to play, and nudged him when he kept staring at her instead of taking up his part, and he smiled that soft, open smile he reserved for her before he joined her in playing.

They played together for a while, soon drifting into Lucifer playing as Chloe rested her head on his shoulder, quiet and content to exist together, the two of them and the gentle sound of the piano in their own little bubble. Later, Lucifer turned his talented fingers to drawing music from her lips, and she did the same for him, their voices mingling out into the Los Angeles night.

* * *

Two weeks later found them back at Lucifer's usual studio, this time together with Chloe's design clutched in his hand.

"Lucifer! Good to see you again. I've got the autoclave ready for your needles if you hand 'em to me."

"No needles this time, this one is going to be a machine tattoo."

"Ooh, switching it up! Javier's just cleaning up his area, then you can go through."

"Thank you, Steven." Lucifer replied with a smile, before he and Chloe took a seat to wait for Javier.

After a moment, the artist in question poked his head out into the waiting area.

"Lucifer! Good to see you again man!"

Lucifer responded with equal enthusiasm, asking the artist about how his family was doing as they walked into his area. He settled into the chair in the centre as Chloe and Javier took seats on either side of him, and Lucifer handed over the sheet of paper with the design on it.

After a little discussion, the design was finalised and Lucifer shed his jacket and shirt before the purple guide for his newest tattoo was applied above his heart. As Javier poured out his ink and made sure the needles were situated properly in the machine, Chloe took Lucifer's hand in hers.

"You know I've never had anyone with me when I got a tattoo before. Well, except Maze one time, but she was only there to make sure the blasted demon didn't stab me in the back or try anything funny with the tattoo."

"I'm honoured that you'd let me be the first, Lucifer." Chloe replied with a soft smile.

"Well, this wouldn't be possible without you, Detective. It hardly seems fair to make you wait outside." He shot her a lopsided grin as Javier announced he had finished prep and asked Lucifer for the go ahead.

It was quickly given, and the three sat in silence for a few moments as Lucifer took in the new sensations.

"It's quite buzzy, isn't it? And unrelenting, compared to my usual method."

"Do you want me to pause for a moment?"

"No no, continue, I was just musing on the differences between the two. I've never had a tattoo done with a machine before."

The three chatted lightly as the tattoo was completed, about everything and nothing, Lucifer's hand in Chloe's the entire time. Lucifer was well pleased by the final result, and Chloe helped him button up his shirt, hands smoothing over the plastic wrap taped to his chest beneath the material.

* * *

Lucifer spent the whole of the healing period by her side, determined that this should be done in an entirely human manner, and also satisfy his interest in the sensations that go along with it. He didn't feel he'd missed out with the itchiness, but watching the tattoo go from fresh to cloudy to crisp as it healed was fascinating. The day they were certain it was completely healed, they spent hours in bed, Chloe tracing over his artwork and him explaining the stories behind any she chose, in between time spent learning every inch of the other's body.

As they lay together, satiated in the soft glow of the evening sun, for the first time since his Rebellion, Lucifer felt like his skin was his and his alone, decorated with imagery and the ghosts of invited touches, and he was  _ happy _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback always welcome! 
> 
> There may be further installments in this universe to come...


End file.
